Means for joining scored sheets and breaking along scored lines



March 3, 1942. c. E. ATTWOOD 2,275,336

MEANS FOR JOINING SCORED SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES Filed Oct. 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet l- 122019213021- CWZes E1 flifwop March 3', 1942. c. E. ATTWOOD 2,275,336

MEANS FOR JOINING SCORED SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES Filed Oct. 22, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 lzwenifor; CWZes E. .vfiiiwpod, by M/W/ M W March 3, 1942.

MEANS FOR JOINING SCORED SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES Filed Oct. 22, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 M2498 E flfifluood, 6g M,M/JW, M "M 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 March 3, 1942. c. E. ATTWOOD MEANS FOR JOININQ: SCORED SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES Filed Oct. 22, 1937 022123 288 E fli'i'wood,

MEANS FOR JOINING SCORED SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 C. E. ATTWOOD Filed Oct 22, 1957 n u n March 3, i942.

Patented Mar. 3, 1942 MEAN S FOR/JOINING SCORED' SHEETS AND BREAKING ALONG SCORED LINES Charles E. Attwood, Lakewood, N. Y., assignor to Art Metal Construction Company, Jamestown, N. Y., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 22, 1937, Serial No. 170,379

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a novel means for preparing a composite web for printing. The; invention contemplates assembling edge to edge in series a plurality of sheets having parallel score lines transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the web, and adhesively securing to said sheets one or more strips of flexible material disposed lengthwise of the series. For this purpose, the invention contemplates the use of a strip previously coated with an appropriate adhesive which preferably is heat-activated or thermoplastic, although I have successfully employed for this purpose a tape which is coated with a normally tacky adhesive requiring neither moisture nor water.

The mode of assembling the components is to feed edge to edge in series a plurality of the sheets in a direction transverse to said edges and to feed the strip of adhesive-coated material in the same direction with the adhesive coating in contact with the sheets. When, as in the preferred method, a heat-activated adhesive is employed, the adhesive is heated while in contact with the sheets and pressure is exerted on the sheets and the strip. 7

The invention contemplates as a next step. the abrupt bending'of the web along the score lines to render the web suficiently flexible to enable it to be passed through a printing machine to print lines of characters between the score lines, after which the web is to be ruptured along the score lines to form index strips whose ends may then be inserted in channels of a filing panel.

The invention contemplates the provision of a machine by which these steps may be carried out as a continuous process and the completed web wound upon itself to form a roll in readiness for use in a printing machine. I

The invention will best be understood by referenceto the following description of the process and a machine by which the processmay be carried out, while its scope will be pointed out more from its rear end, i. e. fromthe right-handend of Fig. 2; i

Fig. is a vertical sectional view on line 55 of Fig. 4; i

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view on line 88 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is an elevation as viewed in the direction of the arrow 9 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a plan of the completed web as viewed from the back; I

Fig. 11 is a sectional view on a much enlarged scale on line lI-ll of Fig. 10.

The completed web will first be described because it is believed that this will lead to a better understanding of the preferred machine. Referring to Figs. 10 and 11, the web comprises a plurality of sheets 12 each of which, in the present example is composed of two layers l4 and I6 of paper and an intermediate layer [8 of appropriate material such as wood veneer to which the layers It and I6 are adhesively secured. In the present example, the layer I4 is relatively thick and substantial because this presents the surface which is to be printed, while the layer it is relatively thin and easily ruptured.

The sheet is weakened along parallel lines as by cuts 20 extending through the layer M and into the layer 18 but not into the layer It. The sheet is provided with a series of openings, herein notches 22 along each of two opposite edges, to cooperate with feeding instrumentalities of the printing machine which is to print lines of characters between the lines 20.

The first stepis to assemble the sheets edge to edge in series, as shown, with the scored lines extending transversely of the length of the series. This step is conveniently carried out by hand, laying one sheet upon an appropriate support, then. laying another sheet upon the support, edge butted against the first sheet, a third against the second, and so on, feeding the sheets along in an edge-butted row.

The sheets, as thus assembled, are secured together by one or more, herein two connecting members such asstrips or tapes 24 coated with an appropriate adhesive which, as already stated, may be normally tacky but I prefer to employ thermo-plastic or heat-activated adhesive which is temporarily rendered tacky by the application of heat above normal room temperatures. There are several such adhesives which are commercially available and in common use today.

When, as in the present example, the sheets are fed along in edge-butted series, the strips are also fed along lengthwisein the same direcline 'l-T tion and with the adhesive-coated side in contact with the backs (i. e., the layers it) of the sheets. The adhesive is rendered tacky by heating when in contact with the sheets and pressure is exerted on the strips and on the sheets to bring the adhesive into intimate contact with the sheets. Ihis can be accomplished by squeezing the web and at the same time pushing it along by the same grip, as by pressure and feeding rollers.

The next and final step is to bend the web sharply along the cuts 20 in a direction which will open up the cuts rather widely. This tends to weaken the layer It as well as the strips 24 along the cuts and along the abutting edges of the sheets. This may be called breaking the Web and renders it flexible so that it may be coiled upon itself into a roll convenient for introduction into a printing machine, and so that after the printing has taken place, the layer I6 and the strips 24 mayeasily be ruptured along the cuts 20 to divide the Web into narrowindex strips.

The foregoing steps may be carried out conveniently by the use of the machine now to be described, reference being had at first to Fig. 1. The hereinbefore described sheets I2 are placed one by one and edge to edge upon a support, herein a table 26 composed of two parts which, in Fig. 7, are given the further designations A and B, and are separated in a horizontal direction by a space or gap to receive the feed and pressure rollers hereinafter described. The sheets are placed so that the cuts 26 in the sheets extend transversely of the direction in which the sheets are fed. The lateral edges of the sheets are suitably guided at first by lateral guides 28A and later by lateral guides 2813. The lateral margins of the sheets are held down upon the table, at first by top guides 39A and later by top guides 3M3. Each sheet is fed downward by hand until it is seized by feed rollers, presently to be described, which continue the feeding, a second sheet is placed with its front edge against the rear edge of the first, until it is seized by the rollers, and so on with a continuous succession of sheets.

As shown in Fig. 3, the hereinbefore described tapes 24 are supplied to the machine in the form of rolls 32 mounted to turn on appropriate supports herein studs 34 having flanges 36, and the rolls are held in place as by knurled nuts 38 threaded onto the studs and provided with flanges 40. While the nuts alone might be relied upon to furnish a frictional resistance to turning of the rolls, in thepresent example pivoted weights 42 gravitate against the peripheries of the rolls and furnish a slight resistance to prevent the formation of a slack in the tapes as they unwind from the rolls. The tapes lead from the rolls beneath the table section 26A,

beneath a roller 44 provided with guide collars- 46, thence upwardly to and part way about a roller 48 (see Fig. 7) and thence, coated surfaces uppermost, along the top of the second table section 26B. The top guides 30B are curved upwardly, as at 50 to prevent any possibility of the front edges of the sheets catching.

provided with shallow grooves 58 to receive the guides 54.

After the tapes have been united with the sheets, the web is first broken, as hereinafter described, and then passes downwardly (see Fig. 2) and is wound upon itself as a roll 60 about a roller 62 (see Fig. 4) provided with a groove 54 in which the edge of the web is inserted. This roller is secured to a shaft 66 having at one end a knurled handle 68 by which it may be turned by hand to start the web upon it. The shaft is supported at one end by an open bearing '10 and at its other end is supported by and coupled to a drive shaft '12 (see Fig. 5) as by providing thelatter with a socket M which receives the end of the shaft, and the shaft is provided with a notch 16 to receive a pin 18 extending through the socket.

Power is applied to the shaft 12 as by a frictional driving mechanism which tends to drive the shaft faster than the web will allow it to go, thus keeping the web under constant tension.

To this end, the shaft 12 is provided with a fric-,

82 interposed between a nut 84 threaded onto the shaft 12 and a collar 86 which is free to move lengthwise of the shaft but cannot turn upon it, the collar 86, to this end, being provided with a lengthwise slot 88 which receives a pin 80 passing through and secured to the shaft. The end thrust is taken by an appropriate ball thrust bearing 92. The entire assembly is mounted in bearings 94 and 96. When the web has reached its maximum permissible diameter on the roller 62, the machine is stopped'and the roller is removed from its place by grasping the handle 68, lifting that end of the shaft 66 from the open bearing 10 and withdrawing the other end of the shaft from its engagement with the pin 18 in the socket M. The roll of web is then removed from the roller 62 (or a new roller may be substituted) and when the roller is inserted in its place, a new web is attached to it and the machine restarted. j

The sprocket wheel 16 is appropriately driven as by a chain 98 (see Fig. 2) which, in the present example is driven by a sprocket wheel I00 secured to a shaft I02, to which the hereinbefore described roller 58 (see Fig. 6) is also secured.

Power from a suitable source is applied to the shaft I02 as by a motor, not shown.

Returning now to Fig. 7, the roller 48 is separated by a slight space (sumcient for. the web) from an upper roller I84 which, in the present example, has a soft rubber covering I06 pressing upon the upper surface of the web. As the covering is yielding, there is no needof making the upper roller vertically adjustable. The upper and lower rollers squeeze the tapes against the sheets and feed them forwardly. Power is applied to the upper roller by mechanism presently to be described.

while its other end is disposed about andissuit The lower roller '48 ably secured to .an enlarged portion N8 of. the shaft I02.

The lower roller 46 is:made hollow to receive 'appropriate'heating means such :a an electric 'heating'element 1260f the resistance type, of common :form, commercially available, the one herein employed being made by General Electric Company. Conductor wires I22 lead from the heating element to the exterior, where they may be connected to a suitable current source, not shown. Also within the lower roller is a commercially available thermostat bulb I24 (the one shown being madeby General Electric Company) having a tube I25 for-connection to an appropriate thermostat, not shown, for controlling electric current to the heating element to maintain the correct temperature to activate the adhesive on the --.tapes. Onecommercially available adhesive, suitable for this purpose, becomes active and tacky ata temperature in the region of 105 degrees The heating element and the thermostat bulb 'are'conveniently mounted-withina cylindrical bar I28 disposed within the roller 48 and extending from the latter into a-bracket I38 which, as shown in Fig. 9, is secured as by screws I 32 to one of two side frame members I34. As the sheets pass along the table section 26A to be seized by the upper and lower rollers I84 and48 (see Fig. 7) and the tapes are brought into contact with. the sheets, the heat furnished by the heating element activates the adhesive on the tapes and the rollers press the sheets onto the tapes and feed the resulting web forward. As the web advances along the second table section 26B, the adhesive is sufficiently cooled at ordinary room temperature by the surrounding air, and becomes inactive.

The next step is to bend the web sharply along the score lines 28 to render the web more flexible so that subsequently it may be ruptured along the score lines to form index strips. The preferred mechanism for performing this operation will now be described, reference being had at first to Fig. 8. As the web leaves the second table section 263, it passes over a roller I36, against which it is maintained by rollers I38 and I40 which, in the present example, are provided with rubber coverings I42 and I44, and between these rollers is a floating breaker bar I46 having a face I48 which is curved to conform to the surface of the roller I36. The rollers are conveniently mounted in bearing blocks I58, and are driven in the directions of the arrows in Fig. '7 by appropriate mechanism such as that now to be described.

. A shaft I52 mounted in bearing blocks I56 is driven by a sprocket wheel I56 (see Fig. 1) which, in turn, is driven by the chain 98. Power is transmitted from the shaft I52 to the rollers I36, I38 and I48 by one or two (herein two) trains of gears, two trains being preferred. One of these trains of gears (see Fig. 9) comprises a gear I58 secured to the shaft I52 and meshing with gears I60 and I62 secured to the shafts I38 and I48, respectively, and a gear I64 which is secured to the roller I36 meshes with the'gears I60 and I62. The second train is like the first and comprises a gear I66 (see Fig. 1) secured to the shaft I52 and meshing with a gear I68 secured to the roller I38, and as shown in Fig. 2 meshing with a gear I18 secured to the roller I46. The gears I68 and III] mesh with a gear I'I2 secured to the roller I36. The breaker bar I46 floats between the shaft I52 and collars I13 on the rollers I38 and I48.

The rollers I36, I38 and I416 .(seeiFig. 8) .0001)- erate "to carry thewbpartway about the roller 436 and past the breaker bar, through a path which has .such an abrupt turn that the webpis 'bent sharply, .the :cuts 2'0 are opened up widely and the web is "broken in the sense that it is weakened along the cuts.

As the webrleaves the breaking mechanism, the web is stripped from the roller I36 by strippers ;II4 suitably secured as by screws I16 below the .table section 26B.

Returning-now to Fig. 7, as a means to prevent the ioperators fingers from being caught and crushed by the pressure and feeding rollers, a suitable guard I28 is secured as by screws I86 to the side frame members I34 (see also Fig. 3).

The operation of the machine has been described so fully that no review is deemed necessary. The machine is rapid and convenient.

Having thus described the method and one meansfor carrying out the method, but without limiting myself thereto, what -I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. In a machine for preparing a composite web from an adhesive coated strip and a series of sheets provided with parallel score lines, the combination of means for applying the sheets edge to edge in series to the adhesive coating of the strip, means for rendering the adhesive temporarily tacky to cause the sheets to adhere thereto, and means for bending the resultant web sharply along the score lines.

2. In a machine for preparing a composite web from an adhesive coated strip and a series of sheets provided with parallel score lines, the combination of means for applying the sheets edge to edge in series to the adhesive coating of the strip, means for rendering the adhesive temporarily tacky to cause the sheets to adhere thereto, a roller over which the resultant web is passed with the strip next to the roller, and means including a breaker bar for causing the web to conform to the surface of said roller.

3. In a machine for preparing a composite web from an adhesive coated strip and a series of sheets provided with parallel score lines, the combination of means for applying the sheets edge to edge in series to the'adhesive coating of the strip, means for rendering the adhesive temporarily tacky to cause the sheets to adhere thereto, a roller over which the resultant web is passed with the strip next to the roller, and'means including two other rollers for causing the web to conform to the surface of the first-mentioned roller.

4. In a machine for preparing a composite web from an adhesive coated strip and a series of sheets provided with parallel score lines, the combination of means for applying the sheets edge to edge in series to the adhesive coating of the strip, means for rendering the adhesive temporarily tacky to cause the sheets to adhere thereto, a roller over which the resultant web is passed with the strip next to the roller, and means including two other rollers and an intermediate breaker bar for causing the web to conform to the surface of the first-mentioned roller.

5. In a machine for superimposing a series of sheets upon and uniting the same with the upper, adhesive-coated surfaces of two tapes to form a composite web, the combination of a table composed of a first section and a second section separated by a space, a first pair of lateral guides to guide the lateral edges of the sheets before they pass over said space, a second pair of lateral guides to guide the lateral edges of the sheets later as they pass from said first table section to said second table section, a first pair of top guides to hold the lateral margins of the sheets down upon said first table section, a second pair of top guides to hold the lateral margins of the sheets down upon said second table section, supports on which two rolls of tape are supported beneath said first table section, means to guide said tapes in a path first beneath said first table section, and thence upwardly through said space between said table sections, said means including upper and lower rollers which squeeze the tapes against the superimposed sheets and feed them forwardly along said second table section, said lower roller being provided with grooves, two guides secured to said first table section, extending through said grooves and overlying the front edge of said second table section, a heating element within one of said rollers, and a take-up roller upon which the composite web is wound.

6. In a machine for superimposing a series of sheets upon and uniting the same with the upper, adhesive-coated surface of a tape to form a composite web, the combination of a table composed of a first section and a second section separated by a space, a first pair of lateral guides to guide the lateral edges of the sheets at first, a second pair of lateral guides to guide the lateral edges of the sheets later as they pass from the first table section to the second table section, a first pair of top guides to hold the lateral margins of the sheets down upon said first table section, a second pair of top guides to hold the lateral margins of the sheets down upon the second table section, a support on which a roll of tape is supported beneath said first table section, means to guide said tape first beneath said first table section, thence upwardly through said space, and thence along the top of said table section, said means including upper and lower rollers which squeeze the tape against the superposed sheets and feed them forwardly along said second table section, said lower roller being provided with a groove, a guide secured to said first table section and extending through said groove and'overlying the front edge of said second table section, and a take-up roller on which the composite web is wound.

CHARLES E. ATTWOOD. 

